Our guest speaker for last Tuesday's meeting was a very impressive young person Erin Hegarty, the founder of Mama Respond International.

 

Back in 2013 Erin went to Kenya as a volunteer teacher.  While walking home with a young Kenyan Nancy,  she asked her what did she need and her reply was "a better future".  The issue was around education with 130 kids in one classroom, there were plenty of teachers, just a lack of space.  Erin deferred her degree and stayed for five months.  During this time she was able to get built 2 classrooms at the Noonkopir Township Primary School, through local donations of material, cash and labour as well as using social media to raise funds back in Australia.

 

In September 2017 Erin returned to the same school just when they opened a special needs unit.  The room was very small with no amenities.  It was more of a daycare centre than an educational space and had no curriculum for students with disabilities.  After spending sometime with the kids in the unit she realised she could help them by getting a proper diagnosis and treatment plan for their disability. 

 

Erin gave a number of examples of assisting families with funding and where to seek help for students with a curable or treatable condition.  

 

 

 

The Rotary WA Joint District Conference will be a special event celebrating 100 years of Rotary in Australia.  Along with inspiring speakers and a magnificent venue,  Rotary in WA will be showcased through the huge space available for Clubs to showcase and publicise their projects.